Two articles have come out that have disturbed me. First, and article titled 50% Favor Cutting Back on Space Exploration dropped a bomb shell on the space community. It can be expected because of NASA’s growing pains with Ares. However, the number has grown 6%. That’s ok, but what is troubling is that “Women and Americans ages 18 to 29 are more strongly in support of cutting back on space exploration than are men and older adults.”
So, basically, NASA is losing youth support. But, wait, this week has only begun.
This week has been a deadly blow. According to the 21st Century Waves article Young People, Long Waves, and a Glimpse of Their Coming Space Age
Using this model [Maslow Window Theory], and assuming the 2015 Maslow Window will culminate near 2025, the Apollo astronaut analogs — possibly the first Mars explorers — were born near 1985; they’re called “Millennials.” They graduated from high school near 2002 and college near 2006; some will get PhDs soon.
So, right now, the people going to Mars are about 25, but, that group is losing support of space exploration…
Well, at least the people at NASA have good health insurance because we need to keep them around for a really long time. (What is this “retirement” you speak of.) Now, we can’t even get people excited because NASA lacks a flag ship rocket. Yes, I know, NASA will keep launching stuff, but people barely cared about shuttle launches, now one is going to care about the other stuff they send up. So, in my completely unresearch opinion, very few people will care about NASA until they get Ares online.
So, this means that fewer kids are going into STEM undergrad programs with the hope of going into the space field and NASA can’t put on a light show to inspire more kids.
In Case You Skimmed
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Reactions
-Do you think the space industry will have enough workers in its next generation?
-Will Ares launches really fix this problem?
Resources
Cordell, Bruce, “Young People, Long Waves, and a Glimpse of Their Coming Space Age” Weblog entry. 21st Century Waves. July 11, 2009. January 18, 2010 <http://21stcenturywaves.com/2009/07/11/young-people-long-waves-and-a-glimpse-of-their-coming-space-age/>.
Foust, Jeff, “Feingold bill would delay Constellation” Weblog entry. Space Politics. January 18, 2010. January 18, 2010 <http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/01/18/feingold-bill-would-delay-constellation/>
Rasmussen Reports, “50% Favor Cutting Back on Space Exploration” Weblog entry. Rasmussen Reports. January 15, 2010. January 18, 2010 <http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/
january_2010/50_favor_cutting_back_on_space_exploration>
